Warning: spoilers are ahead for the series finale of Bob Hearts Abishola, called "Find Your Bench."
While CBS has delivered bad news this spring for shows like So Help Me Todd and CSI: Vegas with cancellations, fans of Bob Hearts Abishola knew months ahead of time that the final credits would roll on the sitcom in the 2024 TV schedule. The series finale concluded a shortened fifth and final season, but not without taking a big risk. The finale began with a time jump ahead seven years, with Abishola (Folake Olowofoyeku) now a practicing pediatrician and Bob (Billy Gardell) retiring with plans to write a book. Throw in the returns of cast members who appeared far less frequently this season, and I wasn't sure the show would be able to stick an emotional landing. Luckily, I was wrong.
A time jump of seven years with about 22 minutes of time left in the series ran the risk of focusing much more on plot updates than saying goodbye to the title characters, particularly since so many of the cast members were brought back for the finale. Time had to be devoted to Bob handing MaxDot over to Goodwin, Kofo, and Douglas, Kemi running her own food truck (with more than a little help from Chukwuemeka), Ebunoluwa married to Pastor Falade, and retirement for Gloria (who was also planning a vacation), Dele in New York to work on Broadway, and Dottie, Olu, and Tunde, with Tunde sporting an impressive mustache.
And while it was great to see the familiar faces who were demoted from series regular status for Season 5, this show has been about Bob and Abishola from the start, and all I really wanted was an ending that took the time to do right by them. Luckily, the final few minutes of "Find Your Bench" did the trick, and I think Bob Hearts Abishola's finale may have set a solid standard for sitcom finales. It's certainly not a How I Met Your Mother-esque scenario that will have fans talking for the wrong reasons even years later!
The final few minutes of Bob Hearts Abishola were devoted to a montage of the highest points of the titular characters' love story, but not in a way that felt like the writers ran out of ideas for how to end the series. With Bob and Abishola seated on their bench, it fit that they were thinking back over their own story just as fans were watching the greatest hits in the montage, and I was surprised to find myself getting emotional about it. It wasn't exactly what I expected after Billy Gardell's comparison to Mike and Molly, but not in a bad way.
So, as much as it was a risk to deliver a seven-year time jump in a one-part finale with a lot of updates to pack in, I think Bob Hearts Abishola did indeed stick the landing, and the ending montage even made me want to use a Paramount+ subscription and revisit the earlier days of Bob and Abishola's love story. It may have been a quiet ending, but what better way for these two than on their bench, as happy and loving as ever? If the show had to end after a shortened fifth season, this was a great way to do it.
